Seamless plated wire



April 6 1926.

C. G. KING SEAMLESS PLATED WIRE Filed May 4, 1925 Patented Apr. 6, 1926.

UNITED STATES CLIFFORD G. KING, on PROVIDENCE, :enonn ISLAND.

SEAMLESS PLATED WIRE.

Application filed Ma a, 1925. SerialNo. 2s,oo2.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLIFFORD G. KING, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Seamless Plated Wire, of which the following is a specification.

I-leretofore in the manufacture of jewelry such as rings, pins, brooches and the like of the cheaper grades, it has been customary to,

prepare a seamless plated wire consisting of a core of base metal such as copper united to a shell of precious metal such as gold, one method of preparing such seamless plated wire having been described in the patent to Meyer 445,814, dated February 3, 1891, to which reference is made for the details of the process whereby my improved seamless plated wire may conveniently be made.

There is, however, an objection to the use of such seamless plated wire consisting of a core of base metal united to a shell of precious metal in that the article of jewelry made therefrom is of comparatively short life, because as soon as a portion of the precious metal shell wears off, the base metal core will show through and spoil the appearance of said article.

As the object of such seamless plated wire having a base metal core is to provide a material for the manufacture of jewelry that is much cheaper than solid gold and yet has a gold wearing surface, it would be impracticable to combine a gold shell, of say, 12 karats fineness with a 10 karat gold core or, more generally, a shell of high grade gold with a core of lower grade gold because the labor cost of production would not be warranted by the small economy in the saving of gold value.

There is a great demand for articles of jewelry made of white gold so called, because it closly resembles the much more expensive metal, platinum, and its alloys. lVhite gold being expensive, it is desirable to have a material for the manufacture of.

jewelry consisting of precious metal throughout which, while costing much less than solid white gold, has, for all practical purposes, most of its characteristics, such as color and density or hardness.

As will be obvious, various alloys of base metal containing copper, nickel, zinc, etc., might be used for acore united with a shell of white gold in so far as color is concerned,

but such whiteinetals are undesirable for various reasons, such for example as the hardness ofthe core whic-hmakes. it ditiieult to work the material into seamless rin and other likearticles, especially when a large percentage of nickel is used, the difficulty in closely approximatingthe color of the shell and the tendency of such alloys to blacken after the shell, or a portion thereof, has worn away. I therefore exclude such base metal alloys and limit myself to a core of precious metal as set forth in the appended claims.

It is therefore the object of my invention to provide a seamless plated wire ofprecious metal throughout, the same having a core which closely approximates the color, density and hardness'of the shell so that when a portion of the shell wears away and the underlying core is exposed, the appearance of the article is not altered because the difference in color between the two elements of the wire is not apparent even on close inspection.

\Vith this object in view my invention 30 consists in a seamless plated wire having a core of precious metal such as sterling silver and a shell of a different precious metal such as white gold united thereto in any suitable manner, the metal of said core being alloyed to closely approximate the color, and, pref erably, also the density and hardness of the p shell.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of this specification the figure shows a length of seamless plated wire embodying my invention.

In the figure, 1 represents a core of precious metal such as sterling silver or silver .925 fine alloyed with copper and nickel or any other suitable metals to give it a colorclosely approximating that of the enclosing shell 2 which in the preferred form of my invention, is white gold or gold alloyed with copper, nickel and a trace of zinc to simulate platinum in color, in the manner now understood.

The white gold which is the nearest to platinum in color is about 19 karats line, and as the fineness is reduced to say 14: karats,

' the white gold, so called, becomes more and more yellow.

In matching the gold shell with sterling silver, I maintain the grade of the latter at .925 fine and incorporate therein .07 5 of alloy, varying the proportions of the copper, nickel and other metals used for such alloy to produce a metal very closely approximating: in color and density or hardness the grade of White gold employed for the shell.

Having thus described an illustrative embodiment of my invention,'Without'however limiting the same thereto, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 2- 1. As an article of manufacture, a. seamless plated Wire comprising a core of sterling silver and a shell of'white QOlCl united thereto, the said core of sterling silver being alloyed to closely approximate the color of said shell.

3. As an article of manufacture, a seamless plated Wire comprising a core of sterling: S1l\'0l and a shell of White gold united thereto, the metal of said core being alloyed to closely approximate the color and density of said shell.

S3. As an article of manufacture, a seamless plated Wire comprising a core of silver and a shell of White gold united thereto, the said core and shell closely approximating each other in color.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto suhscribed my name this 29th day of April,

CLIFFORD G. KING. 

